On Thu, Dec 7, 2023 at 2:46 AM Reino Talarmo wrote:
> From: Jim Reisert AD1C via wsjt-devel [mailto:
> wsjt-devel@lists.sourceforge.net]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 7, 2023 3:51 AM
>
> > 3. 4U is listed as a prefix for Italy.
> Regarding #3, this was done so that "new" (previously unknown) 4U
> callsigns that are spotted on the DX cluster will propagate through the
> network. If that prefix mapping were not there, those calls would be
> ignored because they could not be associated with any entity in the country
> file. Tis was done at the request of Lee VE7CC. 4U has been used numerous
> times from Italy. 4U24OCT is a recent example. The QTH is the Global
> Service Centre ARC in Brindisi, Italy, normally 4U1GSC. 4U could have just
> as easily been listed as a prefix for Austria, but I chose Italy based on
> past experience.
>
> Thanks Jim for clarification,
> Just for educating myself may I ask, is the United Nations 4U the only
> "country code" that is allowed to pop up in any country without a country
> prefix xxx/?
>
Hi Reino,
First, I heard and worked 4U1A this morning on 20m FT8, using WSJT-X 2.7
RC2. It was identified as "Vienna Intl Ctr" in the program, so I don't
quite understand the problem that people have been having. I was using the
country file released on November 29, without any edits. Perhaps the
parsing of the country file was changed from the GA release to the 2.7 RC
release(s).
4U used to be used in the 1970s and 1980s from various locations in the
Middle East by members of various peacekeeping forces. It was also used
from a few locations in Africa in the 1990s (such as 4U9U in Burundi). I
can send you my entire list if you want, but it's probably not useful.
Currently, the only use of this prefix is by the Vienna Int'l Center
(4U1VIC etc), the United Nations HQ in New York (4U1UN etc) and the Global
Service Centre ARC in Brindisi (4U1VIC etc.)
Second question is how long "visiting" individual callsigns are kept in the
> cty.dat file? Related question is why e.g. 4U24OCT and 4U1GSC are not
> listed under Italy? Perhaps those will be listed, if the 4U movement to
> Austria is implemented.
>
My software "activates" a callsign 45 days before it is scheduled to be
used, through 45 days past the end. This allows a callsign to remain
active in the country file throughout the two major CQWW DX contests, Phone
at the end of October and CW at the end of November. Callsigns are
"retired" because some software is unable to deal with very large country
files. WSJT-X uses the big CTY.DAT file, which is quite large, and does
not have this limitation:
https://www.country-files.com/contest/wsjt-x/
(follow the link to CTY.DAT at the bottom of the web page).
Could it be sensible that 4U will be listed as a separate "country" in
> addition to the United Nations HQ with a line ending e.g. "Location
> currently unknown:"? Of course the new call sign will be listed in the
> proper entity as soon as it is known.
>
I'd rather not do it this way. It's best if any prefix or callsign has a
valid DXCC entity code associated with it:
https://www.adif.org/314/ADIF_314.htm#DXCC_Entity_Code_Enumeration
The main points I was trying to make about the country file were:
1. Full callsigns take priority over prefixes.
2. WSJT-X should probably just be skipping the "WAEDC" entities, those
which have a '*' in front of the prefix at the end of the first line.
3. Callsigns are duplicated in the file if they are also part of a
"WAEDC" entity. Software has to make a decision. If it is using the WAEDC
entities, then a callsign found in that list should be ignored if found
elsewhere in the file. If the software is not using the WAEDC entities,
then those entities in the country file can be skipped, and the duplicate
callsign problem is avoided.
--
Jim Reisert AD1C, <jjreis...@alum.mit.edu>, https://ad1c.us
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